


Rough Nights: Jemily edition

by classicallymar



Series: Rough Nights [1]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Emily not dealing with her issues, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, I say like I don't have total control over what we do and don't get to see, JJ is a good friend, Light Angst, Not Beta Read, Pining, Possibly Unrequited Love, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, but we don't get to see that, spoiler: it is not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-19 12:31:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22710871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/classicallymar/pseuds/classicallymar
Summary: Emily has her ways of dealing with a rough night, like everyone does. Emily is lucky enough to run into JJ during one of those nights.
Relationships: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau & Emily Prentiss, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss
Series: Rough Nights [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1633396
Kudos: 50





	Rough Nights: Jemily edition

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! I'll take any opportunity I can to talk about Sergio, which is how this thing started.  
> This can also be read as a companion to my story, "Rough Nights". You don't need to read that one to understand this one, they just have a similar premise. 
> 
> Warnings: Unhealthy coping mechanisms, mention of guns, references to canon-typical material, reference to irresponsible driving behaviors, alcohol  
> More detailed descriptions of the warnings are in the end notes, if anyone needs them.

Emily was damn near as stubborn as Hotch, but she didn't have the same emotional poker face around the rest of the team. She could fake it with Hotch well enough, and Derek if he was in a good mood and her jokes were witty enough, but she never got past Garcia, and oh boy did she enjoy making Emily talk about her issues. 

More often than not, Emily would find herself sharing a cup of tea with Garcia and sometimes JJ before she went back to her apartment. She felt calmer just about every night she'd done it, which annoyed the shit out of her because she preferred to only have one living creature know about her suffering. Penelope claimed not to be prying, but Emily knew she was too curious to let it go completely. 

JJ was an entirely different, infuriating case for Emily. _Every time _Emily talked to JJ, she felt better.__

__She remembered one night, after Emily had finally managed to get Garcia to stop worrying about her long enough for Emily to go home. She'd planned to spend the evening hanging out with Sergio, which did help - just not as much as JJ or Garcia._ _

__Part of it was that Emily refused to carry her work home. If she couldn't shake off a case, she'd spend hours in the office, stealing paperwork from other people just to have something to do. If it was really bad, she sometimes ended up at a bar or a club. She'd probably get wasted more often were it not for her blanket ban on dealing with work shit at home - which included drinking because of it. It was probably a good thing. The money alone was enough to convince her not to go out, nine times in ten._ _

__Or she'd be at the shooting range. Training, she always claimed, but Emily could admit to herself that this wasn't how she trained._ _

__For one, she preferred training with other people if she could manage it. For another, while she was training, Emily was very careful. Not to let her hands get too fatigued, lest her aim suffer for it - or worse develop muscle memory for bad habits. When Emily was at the range in the middle of the night, she didn't care about a single one of those things. She'd let her hands ache, relish in it. She'd go over her form obsessively on better nights, not at all on the worst ones._ _

__Emily had barely made it home in time to feed Sergio, so the first thing she did once she'd closed the door behind her was text her neighbors to let them know they didn't need to come over to feed him._ _

__Before too long, she started thinking. It wasn't super late; longer than a normal workday but not long enough to be long by Emily's standards. Definitely not by Hotch, Rossi, or Reid's standards. She wandered out into the little area in front of the elevator. Off to the side in a short hallway was a laundry room - with a questionably old couch and a vending machine inside, so Emily plopped down onto the couch. Still wearing her coat, she wasn't very concerned with the couch. Besides, she'd been at work all day and wasn't all that concerned about anything. She wasn't sure how long she'd sat there. She'd left her watch at work by accident and she'd left her phone in her apartment - a rare luxury with her job, but they had the weekend off, promised by Hotch. There were other teams. She didn't like not knowing the time - she couldn't even try to make a guess based on the light outside because it had already been dark when she got home._ _

__After some ungodly amount of time, Emily was considering going back into the office because the details of the case were coming back to her faster and in unpleasantly haunting ways, and since she couldn't poison her apartment with these thoughts, she went outside._ _

__Not to her car, just to the outside of her apartment building, careful to avoid anyone she knew on the way down. Not that she'd be running into much of anyone in the middle of a Wednesday night, but she was careful with this in a way she was careful with few other things._ _

__She ran into JJ. She'd barely gotten out to the sidewalk when JJ quite literally ran into her. They both tumbled to the ground, and before they could disentangle themselves, Emily caught her breath,_ _

__It was cold, even for November in DC, and JJ was wrapped in a sleek black coat, and matching deep red hat and gloves. Emily's brain tried to short circuit, but she couldn't let it happen. JJ managed to get them both back on their feet with very little help from a still-rebooting-Emily. Without really thinking about it, Emily asked, "Do you want to come meet my cat? He'll probably burn down the building if I leave him alone up there for much longer."_ _

__JJ laughed. "How does he handle you leaving on cases at all hours of the day and night?"_ _

__"Babysitters," Emily said, completely seriously. "He'd be fine overnight, but I have neighbors who are nice enough to watch him for me."_ _

__JJ turned to make eye contact with Emily. "How long have you been down here?"_ _

__"What time is it?" Emily asked._ _

__"Five-thirty." JJ looked worried. "Don't you wear a watch?"_ _

__"Left it at the office."_ _

JJ gave Emily a worried look. Understandably so; Emily was in the cold air without so much as a long-sleeved shirt.

__"I've only been down here a few minutes, promise."_ _

__"But you weren't in your apartment, were you? I'm guessing you have a clock somewhere up there?"_ _

__"I've been bouncing around the building, mostly."  
"You must be tired, though?" JJ's voice was unsure - whether it was from worry or nervousness, Emily couldn't tell._ _

__"I'm honestly not. I was just going to wait until the sun came up and go to work."_ _

__"You were planning on _driving _?!"___ _

____"No. Should I introduce you to the metro stop that's less than a block from here?"_ _ _ _

____"You could introduce me to your cat if you wanted to," JJ says. "Which you already offered to."_ _ _ _

____Emily sighed and led the way to the elevator. This was worried JJ, she realized. Which meant that she wouldn't be leaving Emily alone until they got to work._ _ _ _

____"I'm fine, J, I promise."_ _ _ _

____"One, I'm calling bullshit. Two, you said you were going to go to work, when Hotch expressly gave us the weekend off. Three, I actually do want to meet your cat."_ _ _ _

____"Fine," Emily grumbled. "He might just run away, though. He doesn't like strangers."_ _ _ _

____"He hasn't met me,"JJ said._ _ _ _

____Infuriatingly, JJ was right. Sergio, who normally hated anyone who wasn't Emily herself or her neighbors, immediately hopped up into JJ's lap._ _ _ _

____"Traitor," she told the cat._ _ _ _

____The whirring of the automatic feeder grabbed Emily's attention. It was set to go off right before she left for work, so that Sergio would be distracted and she could get out the door relatively free of cat hair._ _ _ _

____She must have mentioned it to JJ before, because she said, "Don't even think about it. You and I are spending the day together. But first, you're going to take a nap while I hang out with your cat."_ _ _ _

____"Okay, mom."_ _ _ _

____"I'm good at it, you know."_ _ _ _

____Emily did know. What Emily didn't know, and didn't want to find out, was whether JJ's tricks to put Henry to bed worked on grown women. She decided not to argue._ _ _ _

____Frustratingly, Emily did feel better when she woke up a few hours later. It was only ten - earlier than Emily usually got up on her off days, but she'd gotten much less sleep. When she got back into her living room, JJ was dozing in the same chair she'd been in, and Sergio was curled up on the arm of the chair. Sergio didn't even hang out with _Emily _like that.___ _ _ _

______"What spell did you cast on him?" Emily asked from the doorway._ _ _ _ _ _

______JJ stirred a bit, but didn't startle the way Emily would have. Actually, Emily wouldn't have fallen asleep anywhere but her bed in the first place, but that was beside the point._ _ _ _ _ _

______"What?"_ _ _ _ _ _

______"I said, what spell did you put on my cat? He doesn't like anyone that much, not even me!"_ _ _ _ _ _

______"I didn't do anything! Cats just like me."_ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______"Sure."_ _ _ _ _ _

______"Doesn't matter, though," JJ said, cheerfully. "We're not going to be in this apartment for much longer."_ _ _ _ _ _

______"Where are we going?"_ _ _ _ _ _

______"Wherever you want, long as it's not work."_ _ _ _ _ _

______"Coffee?" Emily suggested._ _ _ _ _ _

______JJ grabbed her hand with a smile. Walking down the street towards Emily's favorite coffee shop, it didn't matter that JJ had cut her run short ,or that Emily had only slept for a few hours. It was 10:27 a.m. on a Saturday, and for once, Emily didn't want to run._ _ _ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> Detailed warnings:  
> Unhealthy coping mechanisms: Emily avoids sleeping, mentions of irresponsible behavior when Emily has been in similar situations in the past.  
> Mention of guns: Both Emily and JJ have jobs in which they routinely carry firearms; Emily mentions past improper form at a shooting range.  
> References to canon-typical material: Vague references to the type of work the BAU does - no details, but the event triggers Emily's unhealthy coping mechanisms.  
> References to irresponsible driving behavior: JJ misunderstands Emily and briefly believes that she plans to drive having not slept - Emily does not and does not plan to do so.  
> Alcohol: Emily briefly describes her tendency to drink because of cases. She admits that this isn't healthy and expresses relief that she's found an effective way to limit it.


End file.
